Today, SEGA and Relic Entertainment are launching a brand new update for the award-winning real-time strategy game Company of Heroes 2 adding two new community features to the game – Observer Mode and Mod Tools. The update will go live on STEAM at 2PM PST.

Observer Mode allows players to sync up and watch live multiplayer matches as they unfold. The feature will let them view games from a variety of different angles, at different speeds and player perspectives and grants access to live data that was previously inaccessible. It provides viewers the opportunity to analyze strategies and learn from the best players in the world. Players can also broadcast their feed through our integrated Twitch interface and showcase their skills to a broader audience.

Mod Tools are an eagerly awaited addition to Company of Heroes 2’s roster of community centric features and will equip the modding community with even more opportunities to create their own custom content. Allowing players to modify existing content to refine the game experience and giving them options to establish their own win conditions and game rules will ultimately create even more and diverse content available for everyone to enjoy.

Lobsters of Doom!!!! Strike that. Crabs of Doom!

Battlefront.com has announced the release of the Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Vehicle Pack for Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy.The Sherman Crab anti-mine tank is just one of a number of unusual and exciting vehicles included in the Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Vehicle Pack (for PC and Mac OSX)! How about the Churchill VII Crocodile or the French Char B-2(f) flamethrower tanks? Or the Churchill AVRE with a massive 290mm “Petard” mortar! The CM:BN Vehicle Pack includes over a dozen oddball vehicles that were too fun to leave out of the game.

The Vehicle Pack requires the base game upgraded to v3.0 but no other modules (however, to access module specific vehicles, that module is required; for example, you can’t access the British vehicles if you only have the base game and no modules).

The Vehicle Pack doesn’t include any missions or campaigns. The vehicles can be used right away in any new QuickBattle or in the editor to make your own scenarios and campaigns.

The Vehicle Pack updates your game engine from v3.00 to v3.10. It includes a number of bug fixes and other improvements to the engine that will also be part of future free patches.

Click here for complete vehicle information and more details!

By Stuart Davidson @ Hardware Heaven

A couple of months ago we reviewed a new mouse from Cougar and despite it being their first real entry into the high end gaming peripherals market it was rather impressive. Today in our Cougar 700K Review we find out if they can repeat that with a new high end keyboard.

Read The Review Here

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• DeepCool Captain 360 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler Revealed
• Thermaltake Announces TR2 Bronze Series 450W, 500W, and 600W PSUs
• Zalman Outs Z11 Neo Mid-tower Case
• GIGABYTE Announces the Release of Raptor FPS Gaming Mouse
• Tt LCS Certified: Thermaltake Releases New Core V41 Window Mid-Tower Chassis
• Alienware Announces Revolutionary New Area 51 Gaming Desktop, Graphics Amp
• WD Purple Now Shipping in 6 TB Capacities
• Raijintek Aeneas Cubical Micro-ATX Case Starts Selling
• Phanteks Announce MP Series High Static Air Pressures Fans
• ELSA Unveils GeForce GTX 980 SAC Graphics Card
• Philips to Launch BDM4065UC 40″ UHD 4k Monitor

Steam has updated the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare product page confirming the PC system requirements for the game.

MINIMUM:

• OS: Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 8 64-Bit / Windows 8.1 64-Bit
• Processor: Intel® CoreTM i3-530 @ 2.93 GHz / AMD PhenomTM II X4 810 @ 2.60 GHz or better
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 450 @ 1GB / ATI® Radeon™ HD 5870 @ 1GB or better
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Hard Drive: 55 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX-compatible
• Additional Notes: Field of View ranges from 65°-90°

RECOMMENDED:

• OS: Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 8 64-Bit / Windows 8.1 64-Bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 760 @ 4GB
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Hard Drive: 55 GB available space
• Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c Compatible 16-bit
• Additional Notes: Field of View ranges from 65°-90°

Source: Blue’s News

UbiBlog now offers PC system specifications for Assassin’s Creed: Unity, revealing the action/stealth sequel will require a 64-bit OS and 6 GB of RAM. Also, this new trailer is the third in the “experience” series from the game, highlighting its open world, as noted in the description: “In Assassin’s Creed: Unity, all of Paris will be at your fingertips. Creative Director Alex Amancio introduces the huge and detailed city full of opportunities and exciting side missions. Whether you’re solving murder mysteries or exploring the different and unique districts of the city, Paris and the entire world of Assassin’s Creed: Unity are yours to explore.”

64-bit operating system
Required

Supported OS
Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64bit versions only)

Processor
Minimum
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.3 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz or AMD Phenom II x4 940 @ 3.0 GHz

Recommended
Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz or better

RAM
Minimum
6 GB

Recommended
8GB

Video Card
Minimum
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 (2 GB VRAM)

Recommended
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 or AMD Radeon R9 290X (3 GB VRAM)

In support of the Make Arma Not War contest, Arma 3 will be available to play for free this weekend on Steam (October 23rd – 27th), and can be purchased with a massive 50% discount. By logging in to www.makearma.com/entries with their Steam account during this free weekend, people will also be able to vote for their favorite Singleplayer entries in the €500,000 Make Arma Not War contest.

More information about the contest, the rules, prizes, and categories is available on www.makearma.com.

Flight combat MMO gets new aircraft line, bigger map and revamped warplane roster in Update 1.6

Wargaming today announced the launch of content update 1.6 for its massively multiplayer aviation combat game World of Warplanes. The update adds a new line of Tier 5 and higher Russian MiG fighters as well as revamps the currently existing plane roster by adding a new multirole class of warplanes for ultimate player freedom and customization.

Known for their breakneck speed and power, the Russian MiG line of jets helped define an entire era of aircraft combat. Starting at Tier 5, the new line of aircraft includes the MiG-3, MiG-9 and the legendary MiG-15bis, one of the world’s first swept wing jet fighters to be ever produced and find success in the skies of battle.

Update 1.6 will also see major changes in the creation of a brand new class of warbird—the multirole fighter. Made specifically for players looking for fighters with a balance between both air and ground combat, the new multirole class will allow them to outfit planes with armaments balanced between high caliber guns and ground destroying bombs and rockets. Previous aircraft in the fighter class, as a result, have now been designated as pure aerial combat dogfighters, which will also benefit from new balance changes for both cannons and machine guns.

Lastly, the El Halluf map will see its boundaries extended, providing a more ample landscape for battle. For more information on World of Warplanes Update 1.6 and to register for a free account, visit:

• www.worldofwarplanes.com (North America)
• www.worldofwarplanes.eu (Europe)

Capital j Media has released the v1.10  update for Battle Fleet 2. This new update to the game includes a few new major features:

• Submarines and anti-sub warfare
• Destructible terrain
• Improved campaign AI
• French, German & Polish translations

Battle Fleet 2 is a true naval combat sim set in the WWII era, with fights primarily taking place around island chains in The Pacific. Players manually control each ship’s loadout, as well as maneuvering each ship in true turn based combat. Firing on enemy ships is done via power and angle controls, much like Worms or Scorched Earth. Ballistic weapons use real time collision physics, allowing you to use terrain of islands as cover or even allowing individual shells to take out key systems such as enemy guns, flight decks, rudders, and so on. Find out all the information on the Battle Fleet 2 website.

Author: Steve Lynch @ HARDOCP

The SilverStone Fortress FT05 is a different take on it successful Raven RV05. SilverStone has gotten rid of the 5.25″ drive bays and once again rotated the motherboard 90 degrees so that the IO panel points toward the sky. These two things done in tandem allow SilverStone to produce a much better engineered ATX case.

Read The Review Here